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Mariners Spring Training Update – Day 16

Weather:With freezing temperatures and a dusting of snow in the Seattle area, this may not be what you want to hear. But, another near-perfect day in Peoria with temperatures in the high 60’s to low 70’s with not a cloud in the sky. After practice ended, the winds started to pick up and a huge dust storm is predicted to blow through the Valley.

The Day:The club had an hour-and-a-half meeting with the Major League Baseball Players Association this morning, so that cut into the early part of the day. The guys hit the field for stretch around 10 am, ran through some agility drills with performance specialist Allen Wirtala and then worked on individual position skills. The pitchers worked on covering first base, the catchers worked on receiving while balls were fired at them through a pitching machine and the infielders and outfielders took groundballs and flyballs. After a quick batting practice session, the players were off the field by 12:30 and most got in a workout after that.

Missing Frank:Camp opened this morning with sad news that longtime front office member and scout Frank Mattoxunexpectedly passed away at the age of 49. Mattox was an 18-year member of the front office in various player development and scouting roles. Every time Frank entered a room, you were greeted with a handshake and a smile. He will be missed.

The Mariners flag flew at half-staff today after the passing of Frank Mattox.

Additional Tidbits:
Brendan Ryan had another good day throwing and is expected to play in the field in the final Intrasquad game Wednesday…LHP George Sherrill is scheduled to throw live batting practice tomorrow…INF Carlos Guillen took batting practice today after sitting out the last few days.

Quote of the Day:
“What’s up Dawg.” Elise Woodard of KJR Sports Radio greeting fellow University of Washington Husky Forrest Snow. Elise, a former UW basketball player, is in town with co-host Mike Gastineau to host three shows from Peoria this week.

Camp Guests:
The MLBPA conducted their annual meeting this morning from 8:30-10 am in the player’s clubhouse. Amongst the MLBPA enterouge were three former Mariners – Stan Javier, Phil Bradley, Mike Myers – who now work for the association. Former big leaguers Bobby Bonilla and Tony Clark were also in attendance with Executive Director Michael Weiner.

Former Mariners Stan Javier, Phil Bradley and Mike Myers.

Cactus League Report:
The Cactus League Report makes its Salty Señorita debut tonight from 7-9 p.m. at the Peoria location. Rick Rizzs, Dave Sims and Shannon Drayer will host the 2-hour show, and fans in the Valley of the Sun are invited to attend the radio show and meet the hosts and guests. Scheduled guests include Tony Blengino, Robby Thompson, Forrest Snow, Danny Hultzen, Shawn Kelley, Kyle Seager and Larry Stone from the Seattle Times. You can listen to the show in Seattle on ESPN 710 Seattle from 7-9 PT, and here is a link to listen online via Mariners.com.

Allen "Rocket" Wirtala leads a group of Mariners through agility drills.

Important Dates:
The third of four Intrasquad games will be held tomorrow at 12:45 p.m. on Field #1 of the Mariners complex in Peoria. Hisashi Iwakuma and Jason Vargas are scheduled to be the starting pitchers. A full list of pitchers and the lineup will be posted tomorrow morning. The first Cactus League game is in four days on Friday, March 2 against the Oakland A’s at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The game starts at 1:05 p.m. MT/12:05 p.m. PT and will be broadcast in Seattle on 710 ESPN Seattle. Here is an updated listing of upcoming important dates:

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